The Good FanFic Guide
by YearOfDreams
Summary: Don't you hate those nasty little reviews you get? *Yes* But you think your fic is good? *Yes* You mean you think Lizbeth Sparkle Puff is a good character? *Yes* You're wrong. But fortunately, this is a guide that will help you write a good fic. ;D
1. The Good FanFic Guide: Introduction

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Why . . . Hello! For some reason of your own you've decided to click on this story. And I have to say . . . I am scared right now. Not because you might be some freaky stalker, but because, unlike my usual policy, I told _no one _about this fic before publishing. And I have no way of knowing what people will think of it . . . if it will end up well-done or scorned upon . . . zilch. Also because this is only the product of extreme boredom. I just went on Word and started typing . . . with no intent whatsoever of turning this into a _writing guide. _Yep. You heard me. Now seeing as I have nothing else to add, I shall end this incredibly annoying AN by letting you know that PJO is not mine, nor the rest of the world. :C

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An Introduction to a Guide

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We all know how much you hate uber mean flames. And you can't help but wonder: Why? Why do you get these evil reviews? Why do those mean people hate your story? It's a great story!

At least, you _think _it's great. But is it? Is it _really? _Take a moment and think. Does your fic have chat speak? Did you use spell check, or just post on a whim? Are there red and green lines on every word? Hmm . . . maybe it's your characters. Do Percy and Annabeth act like in the books? Would Rick Riordan write them like this? Or maybe you have an OC . . . is your OC beyond perfect? Do they have a unique name and a horrible past? I hope not. Because if so, there's your answer right there.

You: Why? People don't mind that. Fan Fiction is for amateur's, ya know.

I know, I know. But listen, dear, we can't pollute the site with work we know we can improve. In fact, why don't you go on and read the guidelines of the site, which clearly state to put a full effort into making your fic as well done as possible. Yep. That's basically something it says.

By now you're getting pretty pissed - who am I to tell you what you can and cannot do on the site? Right? Well I'm not gonna answer that. Instead I'm gonna tell a story . . . a true story. You can skim past it, if you want. Be my guest. ;P

* * *

There was once a very young eleven year old girl whose life was Harry Potter. She discovered a website on Google one day, when she typed in 'Harry Potter,' and then, by mistake, an 'f' too. Curiosity having got the best of her, she slowly clicked 'Harry Potter Fan fiction.'

And thus, the girl was thrown into a world of good and bad. At the time, as she later on admits, she had been the bad; ruthlessly publishing crap Harry Potter and Twilight stories. Yet one day, she felt like coming up with something unique—unlike any other. And so the girl sat down with her notebook, wishing very, very much that she had a laptop. She wrote, and wrote . . . and wrote! And in science class she wrote even more! Eventually she had written out a full 5,000 word prologue. Then, for once, she decided to read it over. Well, she always read her work over. But this time would be different; this time she would try really, uber extra hard to _fix stuff_ in her work_. _Now, I know that concept may sound rather strange to you, but just like this girl, you have to get accustomed to reading over your work for improvement. Why, may you ask? Because. Because this young, eleven year old girl read over her prologue many, many times in excitement for her new fic. This one, she had a feeling, was the best. Finally, when it was thoroughly edited, she published, with a feeling that this was her most well-written story yet.

Now you may or may not be wondering what happened. If not, I'm still gonna tell you that this new HP fic _was _her best yet. She got tons of reviews . . . and favs . . . and alerts . . . the girl was very happy. And when she went to update her crap!fics, which she'd kinda left alone for a while, she had to read them over to catch up her memory of what was happening. The girl was appalled to see how suckish those fics were . . . she wondered how she could have ever written something so bad . . . without even trying to fix it.

* * *

And that's where I'll stop.

Hopefully, something miraculous like that will happen to every author out on Fan Fiction . . . PJO particularly. But let's face it my lovelies… that's _nawt _gonna happen.

We can try, yes we can try. But in the long run , on just the first page of PJO Fan Fiction you'll find an average of at least 5 to 10 shit!fics, out of 25. I should know. I used to do daily scans. :L

And _why? _You wonder. Why does someone publish a story if they know it's bad? Well, to put it simply, the answer is the same reason you hand in the homework you rush-completed on the bus this morning.

Because you want to get it over with. You want feedback.

Yes, you knew that the scribbled paragraph on The French and Indian war sucked, and was very untidy because you were sitting in the back of this bus. But you also know that your History teach doesn't care. She's just gonna look at it to make sure it's done.

Do the shit!fic authors know their work sucks? Maybe. Maybe they just want to post anyway . . . want the satisfaction of getting new emails every second full of reviews and people alerting and faving. And finally publishing stuff . . . getting it over with. It's why I used to publish work I knew was crap. And yes, darling, that girl from before was most definitely moi, in case you were wondering.

But don't they ever get that feeling of doubt? That feeling that maybe . . . their story isn't really that awesome-ful? That maybe their character Anastasia Sprinkle Sparkle Puff is kinda annoying?

I would hope so.

Look, guys. We all know that at some point in our lives, maybe even now, we were suckish writers. And if anyone ever tries to deny it . . . I doubt that in Kindergarten we went around typing stuff up and posting it online. Exactly.

And you come to wonder: why? Why does everyone call me a bad writer? Why are they so mean?

For those of you who wonder the above, and apparently _don't _know that your story sucks like you should have known, here, my dearies, is a guide.

Yes, _a guide._

I know what you're thinking. _Why the hell does this person think she can go around making _guides? _What makes her good enough to do that?_

Or maybe you're not thinking that. But whatever. I'm about to answer. And what I'm saying in my answer is that you may call me vain, or egoistic, or a wannabe Verita . . . but I don't care. Because when I read a bad fic that makes me wanna pull my hair out, I know _why. _Yes. You heard me. I am able to look at something and read it and understand what is wrong, and what is making it as crappy as it is.

Sometimes it's grammar . . . sometimes it may be a crappy OC, or a Stu, or Sue, or OOCness. It may be flow . . . syntax, punctuation, or just how well-written it is over all. There are a lot of things that can be wrong with a fic.

And I'm not saying that my writing is free of those things either, for the record. But at least I try hard to edit my stuff . . . get a beta . . . and find room for improvement. Sometimes in my AN's I _ask, _yes _ask, _for CC and flames. Because how else am I gonna know how to fix things . . . and what to fix? And when someone does drop of a wonderful, CC filled review, I'm thankful. And if you want you can go scroll down to the bottom right now and review with everything you think is wrong with this fic. Be my guest, dear.

I'm not saying my writing isn't confusing, or bad, and I'm in no way calling it perfect. But I know that I put in effort, and that counts for something. And boy, _I know _that I know what bad grammar, Sues, and other suckish aspects of writing are classified as. And I know to stay away from them.

So perhaps I'm sharing my secrets in this story? Yes? Is that what you think of it?

Well, then.

Look. If this whole fic turns out successful, and I don't end up deleting it for farther editing, you're looking at what will one day be a 10 chapter fic with each chapter donated towards a certain annoyance it writing.

Yep, you heard me.

And now I plead you farewell, wondering why I randomly decided to start this guide anyway and typed this all up. And no, for the record, I do not have a beta for this fic. It's _all _me, babe. And no, I am not telling anyone the alternate account of mine where I first published all those crap fics, oh so long ago. Maybe one day I'll tell the world . . . but not today. Or tomorrow. So if you were planning on asking, save yourself the trouble.

And so we come to the end of the beginning. This is an introduction, after all. Goddamn the day Spanish finals kill me, but bless when Sues die in Tartarus, for alas! It may happen! And remember . . . this is only an intro. There is more to come! So add this to alerts . . . come on now. You know you want to.

Yes. I did just go there.

_**~L**__i_**z**


	2. The Good FanFic Guide: Mary Sues

_*Note: This will be the last update for the next two or three weeks because I am going to sleep away camp.* Sources for this chapter: Wikipedia* _

Chapter 1: Mary Sues

Hi guyyyssss1!1 My username is ILIVPERCABETH and I just published my frist story. It has a bunch of OC's so heere are my OC's so u will be familiar with them when I start and I don't have to introduce them. :D:D:D:D:D:D Okay. SO Here they are: Jessice: half-vampire, half-demigod, half-princess. RyceZ: he's 1/3 sorcerer and 1/3 wizard and 1/3 demigod. Then theres Sparkle and shes the princess of the underworld. And after that is Janeta she is half vampire half-werewolf and even though shes only 12 she and Poseidon have a thing hehe….. there all really beaitufil and everyonhe loves them even though secretly they are like a cult. XD p.s. they are all children of percy and annabeth and REALLY powerfull. Anyway plzz read but don't flame! Tell me if I should continue!

See that awful, horrid, disguising paragraph up there? See it? Yeah. Well I saw a fic like that once. The characters were part vampire and part something else and all that other crap. Not only were they Sues/Stus, but un-realistic as well.

Sues. Mary-Sues.

What are they, you wonder. What do they do? What do they mean? After all, we must learn what they are first before we can terminate them

A Mary Sue, or sometimes just 'Sue' is a term in literary criticism. Particularly, in fact, Fan Fiction. Yep. You heard me. Even _Wikipeida _knows that Sues are greatly scorned in this world. They have overly-perfect mannerisms, look, powers, and the whole pizza. They miss pretty important flaws, and sometimes act as a wish-fulfillment fantasy for the crap writer. They are too ostentatious for all the reader's taste, which basically means that they're too showy, rich, wealthy, and all that. Usually the writer favors the Sue too much, and pushes how wonderful the Sue is on the readers.

Now stop and think for a moment. Do _you _have a Sue? Really, think hard. Can your character be described as one from the above paragraph, or the fan-girl paragraph? If so, do you push your wonderful little Sue and shove it in the readers face?

I would hope not. This leads us readers to _dislike _or even _resent _the Sue very quickly. Hmm . . . Sues can also be thought of as 'author's pet.' Yep. So basically, you should try to stay away from Sues.

And now, having had just realized you've got a Sue on your hands, an icy feeling is setting in your body, which feels out of proportion and quite nervous. Not because of that Spanish final tomorrow, but because it's really time to face it. You're a suethor.

Now I know what you're thinking, which is denying ever putting that horrible idea of an OC out on the web. Or you're not thinking that… but whatever, you get what I mean. Or you don't know what I mean, 'cause _I _don't even know what I mean. Anyways, back to the point.

In all seriousness… a lot of people out there have Sues. Or Stus. Or some sort of variation. You would _think _that authors consider their OCs more, and put more thought into the action of people not liking their character.

Except they don't. The suethors, I mean. I know _I _think about whether or not my OCs are likeable… and well, _real._

Ya know?

* * *

How NOT To Make an OC

Let's slap a name on there, shall we? A unique name… a name that'll make me sound intelligent for thinking it up or remembering it as a possibility. One that shall make me seem worldly and cultural.

How about… Josefina Andrea Perez de Angelo. Or we can add something unrealistic on there too, that makes the parents sound cool and shows she comes from an interesting family. Like… Sky. Or Sparkle.

…And there we have it. Josefina Andrea Perez Sparkle Sky de Angelo.

She also has to be pretty interesting for reader appeal. They won't wanna read 'bout some boring normal dude with normal hair.

She has to be unique… unlike anyone else… to make the readers curious about her. They want to know where she got all these powers and stuff.

Also, seeing as everyone lurves Edward and no other boring human, I should _at least _make her half-vampire. _At least._

But wittle Sparkle Sky should also be the greatest of them all… with unknown powers that will one day lead the rest of them to look for her for guidance…

Readers love a plot like that…

They don't wanna read about some ugly person either, so I should make her fairly beautiful. And every story out there needs a savior hot guy for all the girl readers to swoon over. I know _I _would never read story without hot protective men out there.

So I'll give her a boyfriend.

Of course, though, the more the merrier. So maybe I'll give her _another _BF. Or—even better! Boys fighting over her!

Of course she can't be older than 13 because she needs to be finding out she's a demigod in the story, but I'll work something out…

WRONG! WRONG WRONG WRONG! There ya have it, folks. That was How NAWT to make an OC.

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How To Make an OC

Let's make an OC, shall we?

Okay. So the first order of business is that we can't name our OC something like, 'Sparkle Shiny Pants.' And yes, I am being 100% truthful when I say that someone PMed me asking me to beta their story about 'Sparkle Shiny Pants.' Dead serious.

The name doesn't have to be as common as, let's say, Hannah, for it not to be a Sue. Just try to refrain from using words (yes people, they are NOT names. Face it.) such as Sparkle, Sprinke, Sky, Button, or really uber pretty long beautiful girly names that shock people half to death and sound like they belong to a princess from the 15th century.

Just don't do that, mkay? _Don't._

Then there's the aspect of perfection. Listen, guys. Everyone has flaws. And OCs—yes, even OCs, can't lack flaws. So it's really not that hard to throw some flaws in there—whether it's physical, mental feelings, or both. Just add something to make your OC feel and seem like a _real person. _Not some made up fantasy or wish-fulfillment for you.

Let's call our OC Jim. He's a guy. He's in his 20s, and is a demigod. (Son of a minor god.) He's had a good child hood, but is very poor and has fallen into the wrong crown more recently. He's gotton himself into some tough situations and has made rational and uncalled for actions to get out of them.

He has no special powers. At least, not outside the lines of his ancestry. He's not exactly the looker either… but is in pretty good shape, and is really healthy too.

Hmm… will that cut it? This guy was made on a whim in about two minutes. No copying, my fellers. I may use him for something…

* * *

Overall, Mary Sues= Epic Fail. So just stay away from them as much as possible. Mkay?

Next chapter on OOC and the art of OOCness. XD

Also, updates may not be that fast. I'm kinda growing out of Fan Fiction.

Bubye, now. Run along to that review button down there. Then you can leave.

**~LIZ**


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